As the entire world seeks to slow the pace of climate change, trees inevitably hold a significant part of the answer. Yet the mass destruction of trees continues, sacrificing the long-term benefits of standing trees for short-term gain. We need trees for various reasons, not least of which is that they absorb not only the carbon dioxide that we exhale but also the heat-trapping greenhouse gases that human activities emit.
According to one estimate, tropical tree cover alone can provide 23 percent of the climate mitigation needed over the next decade to meet goals set in the Paris Agreement in 2015. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Between 1990 and 2016, the world lost 1.3 million square kilometers of forest, according to the World Bank. Since humans started cutting down forests, 46 percent of trees have been felled, according to a 2015 study in the journal Nature. About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise.
With the current rate of population explosion, the world population could be expected to increase from 7.6 billion to about 10 billion in the next 30 to 35 years. The growing demand for food can be expected to rise by 50% in the given period, and it is a matter of grave concern.
Rational utilization and proper management of forest resources are the most viable ways to prevent mass destruction of forests and large-scale species extinction. It is necessary to find the links between the growing demands and meeting the needs in a sustainable manner.
source: https://forestecocertification.com/what-is-deforestation/
